UK National Lottery: UK lottery sales rise by 5%
Sales of National Lottery tickets have increased by 5.2% to more than £5bn (US$9.4 billion), according to operator Camelot.
The £246.7m (US$464 million) year-on-year increase, which was partly due to the creation of new games, marks the third consecutive year of rising sales.
Players spent £5,012.8m across all games in the 12 months to 31 March.
Camelot's latest sales figures will be its last before the entry deadline for bids for the next licence to run the National Lottery.
The 5.2% increase follows a 3.3% rise in the year to 31 March last year.
The previous year to March 2004 saw a 1% increase in Lottery sales, which marked the first upturn in six years.
A World Cup-themed game is among a number of new scratchcard and online games which are set to be unveiled later this year.
Other new games set to launched this year include Dream Number.
This will be a draw-based game in support of London's 2012 Olympics, which will replace Lotto Extra.